Sliced Cucumber Salad (Agurke Salat)
I grew up eating sliced cucumber salad but we called it agurke salat (a-gorka sal-at) which is the Danish name. My mother being a dane would serve it to us as a side dish or on open faced sandwiches called Smørrebrød. Just writing about these sandwiches is making my mouth water.
Here’s a photo of what the opened faced sandwiches called Smørrebrød look like. This photo below is from http://www.copenhagenet.dk/. Smørrebrød sandwiches are as much art as they are a delicacy. I remember my mor mor (mother’s mother or grandmother) taking her time to assemble a plate of these delicate sandwiches for lunch. And when I was just a kid visiting her in Denmark, we would go to Tivioli Garden where there was a shop that sold them individually. She would let me pick out my favorites and then we would go sit somewhere in the park and dine. I can’t wait to take my kids there when they get older. Some of these sandwiches used agurke salat as one of the ingredients.
When I tell friends about my Danish cucumber salad, I’m often told they know it but call it by another name native to their own ethnicity. I’m guessing it is a popular dish to all the northern Scandinavian countries and their neighbors.
Agurke Salat
There are two important steps when preparing this cucumber salad. First, slice the cucumbers paper thin. Second, salt them to remove, as my mother would say, “the burp” from them. Other than that, the rest is easy.
I like to make a big batch at a time and eat them all week long. I even use the vinegar mixture a second time and just slice and salt some more cucumbers.
Ingredients
3 large cucumbers
Table salt
1 cup of white wine vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
salt & pepper, to taste
How to Make Sliced Cucumber Salad
I leave the peel on but you can peel them if you like. I find it makes them too flimsy if you cut them paper-thin. I used a food processor to slice them but you can use a mandolin or if you have a lot of patience, slice them by hand but be sure they are paper thin.
Next I lay them out on some paper towels and sprinkle them with salt. I’m not sure if it is true, but my mom says the salting helps remove whatever is in the cucumbers that make them repeat on you. Let them sit there for about 10 minutes.
After they have been salted, put them in a colander and wash all the salt off with cold water. If you don’t get most of the salt off, the final result will be way too salty. Gently squeeze the sliced cucumbers in your hands to get rid of as much water as possible. You can let them drain in the colander while you make the vinegar mixture.
Prepare the Vinegar Mixture
In a medium sized bowl that you are going to serve the cucumbers in, add the vinegar with the water, then the sugar and coriander seeds. Mix well until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the cucumbers and coriander seeds and mix together with your hands or spoon if you don’t like to get your hands dirty. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours so the cucumbers pick up all the flavor of the sugared vinegar.
This is really simple to make and goes especially well with pork.
on July 27th, 2007 at 7:40 am
I was so excited when I saw the cucumber salad and open face sandwiches. I remember them when I was a child. I was born in Germany, I think our food must be similar to the Danish fare.
I love the cucumber salad and make it often.
I lived in Canada for fifty-four years and still make open faced sandwiches for my family. They love it also.
I look forwards to every article .
Petra
on July 27th, 2007 at 10:26 am
One of my favorite things to eat is cucumber salad! It’s so refreshing! One time I tried making it with rice vinegar (because we were out of white wine vinegar and didn’t have time to go to the store) and it came out terribly. So if you ever are tempted to use a different kind of vinegar, don’t! Thanks for this post.
on August 5th, 2007 at 11:55 am
My mother used to make this and she just called it sliced cucumbers. Unfortunately my mother is no longer with us and I had lost my recipe for cucumber salad. I also add sliced onions to the salad and refrigerate it overnight. The vinegar acts on the onion to “cook” the onions to limp form.
on August 5th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Hello and thanks for the cucumber salad recipe. We love to eat them as they are refreshing and a cool salad in the hot Texas summer is great. One thing though…..
Why don’t you seed the cucumbers, or suggest English Cukes with their digestible seed as well as a safe and healthy skin? Regular cukes are waxed on the outside and this isn’t good to ingest which is why most people peel them before eating.
As a student of French cooking, no chef would ever serve cuke anything with seeds in. I realize you suggest the salting method to remove whatever it is that makes one ill, but why not just “slide on over” to another type vs. eating a variety that is well known to make many people experience indigestion?
Thanks, love your site!
on August 6th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I like cucumber salad with onions and sour cream, dill, salt and pepper.
It is great in the summer, or anytime.
on August 19th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I’m adddig my two bits to the agurke salad thread, rather late, having just now returned from abroad.
Among East European Jews, the “agurke” is prepared differently and is called called an “ugerke” , a sour pickle, and is served as a side dish.